For them it began in the music section of a bookstore off of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They were in graduate school, and Phil, a physicist, got the attention of Lauren, a music education philosophy student, with his interest in a book about his favorite composer, Gustav Mahler.
Phil and Lauren realized apart from their areas of study they had a lot in common. They both played oboe, and Lauren came from a family of scientists.
One of their first dates was to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which Phil said in retrospect was not the best idea.
“It was not a terrible date, but it was a terrible date location,” Phil said.
The museum was too quiet for conversation, he worried. But Lauren said Phil’s interest in music was enough to foster their connection.
“It was a date from the beginning, but I figured if it didn’t work out, I still had someone to go to concerts with,” she said.
Phil and Lauren Richerme have now been married for six and a half years. While they like that they each study different fields, Phil said it is difficult to find employment in the same institutes. Four years ago a position opened up for Lauren in the music department in the Jacobs School of Music.
Lauren applied because jobs in music education philosophy are rare, she said. IU offered her the job, but it came with some disheartening news. There were no available positions in the physics department for Phil.
IU deans refer prospective faculty couples to “Dual Career” services in the Office of Faculty and Academic Affairs. Eliza Pavalko, vice provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs, and the dual career coordinator, Indermohan Virk, work with referrals.
Pavalko said the office focuses on finding positions for couples in academia at IU and in the surrounding area. If placing them in a faculty position proves difficult, the office can help the spouse search for other options outside the school, which is a different process, she said.
“While we cannot guarantee a job, we work closely with them to make sure they are aware of all possibilities and to facilitate contacts,” Pavalko said in an email.
When one school plans to hire a faculty member, there may not be an open teaching position for the prospective employee’s spouse. The Office of the Provost has a fund designated for creating an open position, and this year it supports 62 faculty couples.
“A major benefit of having these services is that they are essential to attracting and retaining top faculty,” Pavalko said. “Not only does it increase our chances of hiring the spouse who was initially being recruited, but it also attracts many outstanding spouses — partners — who we might otherwise not have been able to hire.”
Initially, the two professors didn’t contact dual career services. Phil ended up spending two years in Maryland before he could join Lauren at IU. Plans for his employment were put in motion in fall 2014 after the dean of the music school helped the Richermes contact the physics department, and he started teaching at IU a year later.
The couple said all it took to get them here together was someone high enough up the administrative chain.
Apart from both playing the oboe, Phil and Lauren are avid travelers who hike regularly and try to take at least one big trip every year. They also belong to Bloomington’s indoor rock climbing facility, which they go to weekly.
Phil said they try to disconnect their work life from their home life, even if they each understand the other’s work. Still, their knowledge of each other’s subject matter makes it easy for them to have great discussions, he said.
“I’m a curious person, and I like hearing about fields that aren’t my own,” Lauren said. “Feels good to come home to that.”
